


Mutatio

by SOABA



Series: The Big Short Challenge [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, The Big Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-30
Updated: 2016-10-30
Packaged: 2018-08-27 20:44:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8416156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SOABA/pseuds/SOABA
Summary: Harry and Draco go treasure hunting.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Big Short Flash Fiction 500-1000 Word Challenge on Rough Trade, hosted by Keira Marcos.  
> Prompt: Cave

**_Mutatio_ **

“This is your fault, I’ll have you know,” Draco grumbled at him as they waded through the muck and mire that coated the floor of the cave they were exploring. “Completely and utterly.”

Harry turned back and blinked at the boy whom Lady Magic herself had insisted was Harry’s reincarnated soulmate, something Harry was still trying, with limited success, to process, “How, exactly, is it my fault that Merlin chose to hide _Vehemen_ and _Validu_ in a dark, smelly, magic-resistant cave?”

“Well, he was _your_ ancestor, wasn’t he?” Draco retorted.

Harry rolled his eyes at him.

“Why _did_ he have to hide our swords in this awful place?” Draco continued to gripe. “I’ll have you know that there isn’t a cleaning spell on earth that will be powerful enough to get my boots clean after walking through this.”

“I’m so terribly sorry,” Harry replied.

“You should be,” Draco rejoined, either not catching or outright ignoring the sarcasm in Harry’s voice, “These are made out of _dragonhide_. Do you know how expensive dragonhide is?”

“Er, no?”

Draco sighed in exasperation, “We’re going to have to fix that, if I’m going to be stuck with you for all eternity, Potter. Seriously, though, why hide the swords here?”

“Because he knew that no one sane would care to come anywhere near this place, let alone slog through this filth looking for priceless artifacts,” Harry suggested, looking around carefully for anything that seemed out of place.

“Sure,” Draco snorted, waving the Muggle torch, that he had protested having to use for a solid ten minutes, in his hand around wildly, the beams glancing off of the numerous slick stalactites embedded in the ceiling, from which grimy water dripped periodically, “He hides _our_ swords in a malodorous, clammy, and polluted cavern that all magic users will naturally steer clear of, but freaking **_Excalibur_** can just sit unprotected in Dumbledore’s warm and cozy office where any tosser with enough magical talent can get a hold of it.”

“Only a member of the Pendragon bloodline can truly wield Arthur’s sword though,” Harry shrugged, “Which is a safeguard that our swords apparently don’t-”

Harry cut himself off as his boot struck something solid that had been obscured by the thick mud.

“Potter?” Draco questioned impatiently.

“I think I’ve found them,” Harry announced, tossing his own torch to Draco, who caught it with surprising deftness.

Harry squatted down, grimaced briefly to himself, and then buried his hands in the squelching, black muck. He managed to gain enough purchase on the long case that his hands discovered a moment later to pull it out, the mire providing enough resistance to make it a bit difficult, and then he balanced the heavy and filthy thing on his knees. A quick brush of one hand across the lid removed enough of the mud that Harry was able to make out the insignia that was embossed in gold upon the ebony chest- a phoenix and a dragon intertwined.

“It needs our combined magic to open it,” Draco reminded, the reverence in his tone as he gazed at the case a mirror of that which Harry was feeling himself, “Which we can’t access in here.”

Harry cast one last look around the putrid cave as he rose and he found himself hoping that he never would have to return to it; being cut off from his magic was just _wrong_ , “Let’s get out of here then.”

“I can hardly wait to see Dumbledore’s face when we march into the Great Hall with ancient magical swords strapped to our hips,” Draco smirked as they began to trudge back toward the entrance of the cave. “Do you think we’ll manage to give him a coronary?”

“As if we’d be so lucky,” Harry returned.

“Then again,” Draco announced bluntly, “I’m rather looking forward to killing him ourselves.”

“We have to ruin his reputation first,” Harry told him. “Lady Magic was clear about that. If we want to prevent that terrible future she showed us from occurring… we have to destroy Dumbledore and the empire he’s managed to construct in every possible way.”

Draco nodded in stark approval, “Then let’s get started.”

**Author's Note:**

> This work is FINISHED. There will not be more of this. That said, I do have a Harry/Draco story in the works that I hope to start posting before the end of the year.


End file.
